The Oppenheimer Report -10/27/08

It has been a long time since I discussed progress towards the completion of our log home. Indeed, there have been formidable setbacks, and we are not out of the woods yet. I will not go into the details right now, but let it suffice to say I could and may someday write a book about the perils and pitfalls of custom log home construction. Not an insignificant factor in the delays we have experienced has been the steep downturn in the economy. While many across North America are facing foreclosure, we are in the final stages of completing a new home project which has taken us from a period of relative prosperity into a period of economic peril. Seventeen months into the project, over-budget and much-delayed, we are optimistic that we won’t need to wait much longer. As Winter fast approaches, Shauna and I have high hopes that the house will be habitable by December (2008).

Floors have been laid and stained in all but the main living room, where the stone mason is several weeks away from completing his stone work on the fireplace. When that fireplace is done, it will be a unique design; one which the stone mason tells us incorporates several ground-breaking techniques. The abstract mountain design above the glass mantel, done in a deceptively random dry pack of granite and quartz, promises to be a one-of-a-kind work of art. Lights are on, electrical outlets are live, all interior walls are up and stained, kitchen and bathroom cabinetry should be installed soon, all plumbing is in place and ready to be hooked up to plumbing fixtures, which are all on site. HVAC is in and ready to be fired up. A week ago last Friday, Shauna and I watched in fascination as the excavation and installation of the septic system took place. Once the septic system is inspected and approved, toilets and sinks can be installed and made operational. If you go to our photo website (click on the JasperBarkLodge link) you can see the wood stove vanity we designed, recently placed in the powder room. At present, door hardware is being installed and doors are being hung. As each fit and finish detail is completed, Shauna and I are gradually becoming re-assured that our decisions were, for the most part, correct for what we’d hoped to accomplish. With no previous experience at this sort of thing, we had no idea whether our vision on paper would properly translate well in 3-D.

Throughout the process there have been many complications, necessitating last minute decisions/compromises which were required when we were least equipped to make them. I could not possibly explain to you how challenging this build has been. Both of us are physically and mentally exhausted by the process. As I have said over and over in past reports, custom log home construction poses its own unique set of challenges, and no matter how well engineered the house may be, there is always something, some glitch, no one anticipated.

While “Joe the plumber” gets his fifteen minutes of fame (notoriety?) playing the man in the street, as Barack Obama surges ahead in the polls simply by laying low and letting the Republicans gnaw each other to political death, as the economic ball bounces around near the quicksand bottom of the stock market, and as so many around the world are wondering how bad the next twelve to twenty-four months will really be, I look forward to reclaiming my twisted sense of humor and stepping away from our myopic focus on this building project. Between politics and this house, I may have driven away even my last twelve loyal readers … I promise, I’ll be back, some day!
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Oppenheimer Report 10/13/08

As I begin this report on Friday, the Dow is bouncing around in negative territory, dropping 200 points in a heartbeat. On this the eighth straight day of declines, you know that things are bad because CNN is featuring positive thought psychologists. I heard a stat earlier today indicating that the stock market is down almost 40% over its all time high, and this is clearly having its effects in the world financial markets. There are no longer debates about whether or not we are in a recession, but now the question is “where is the bottom?” For those of us who have never been through such a severe economic crisis, it might be easy to panic. There are probably a few high flyers out there who have known nothing but prosperity in their lives. I certainly fall into the category of lucky people who has never gone without.

I watched Obama and McCain debate in the recent Town Hall debate in Nashville, and I’d hate to be in either of those men’s shoes right now. I think McCain clearly has the uphill battle and, despite what I consider to be a Democratic tendency to self destruct, I think this one is in the bag for the donkeys. No matter how inexperienced, or how liberal or terrorist-befriending the Elephants want to make Obama out to be, it is those pesky pachyderms who have been at the helm for the past 8 years. They are perceived to have frittered away America’s good will, pouring the profits into the pockets of a few rich old white men. At least that’s what we’re told, and to a greater or lesser extent, is probably true. To oversimplify, it may be the widely held public inclination to elect Robin Hood, because the Sheriff of Nottingham crossed the line.

I’m as lost and concerned as the next American, but what worries me the most is that no leaders have emerged in such a long time. Bush certainly lowered the bar. I’m inclined to think Sarah Palin is a bit of a bonehead, but one thing she said in the V.P debate was important to hear. We, the voters, bear a good deal of the responsibility for our plight. We the voters should be accountable for our actions, and we in large part haven’t been. Did we not think that spending more than we have would come back to haunt us? Ever hear of the “greater fool” theory? This guy paid a lot for this house, so that one must be worth even more. We elect these “crooks” in Washington and we comprise the special interests and earmarks for which they lobby. We have seen the enemy and he is us.

Meanwhile, suddenly the richest nation ain’t so rich anymore, and it’s taking the rest of the first world economies down with it. Will prosperity once again blossom? Historically it has. Will North Americans ever figure out how lucky they were? Probably not. With every generation, that lesson seems to get harder to learn. I need only glance at the International Herald Tribune, if I want to remind myself of my unbelievable good fortune. I can check out the famine in Somalia, learn about what Mugabe is once again doing in Zimbabwe, or spend a few paragraphs in Afghanistan. Some of us think we understand privation, because our portfolios are temporarily down 30-40%. Life is the great equalizer, isn’t it? By the luck of the draw, some of us will die before our time. Some of us will do great things to aid mankind before we leave, some of us will commit unspeakable atrocities; some of us will do absolutely nothing. Maybe this global financial crisis will even out the playing field a little. Maybe some good will even come of it. Perhaps this is our economic French Revolution, absent the guillotines but complete with the justifiably angry, indignant mobs. I am hopeful fear will give way to ingenuity, and that necessity will turn laziness and complacency into productivity. I know if I lose everything I have, and I have had a lot, I will always consider myself a fortunate man. Good timing, because today is the Canadian Thanksgiving.

- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED